After Takei previously called Shatner an “unfit” guinea pig for taking flight on Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin space flight in 2021, Shatner now addressed the long-running spat with his former “Star Trek” cast members, namely Takei. “I began to understand that they were doing it for publicity,” Shatner told The Times UK. “Sixty years after some incident they are still on that track. Don’t you think that’s a little weird? It’s like a sickness.” Shatner continued while promoting his “Boldly Go, Reflections on a Life of Awe and Wonder” memoir, “George has never stopped blackening my name. These people are bitter and embittered. I have run out of patience with them. Why give credence to people consumed by envy and hate?”

Shatner additionally tweeted that he finds “it sad that a handful of day players who were on set for maybe 20-30 days a year total spent 50+ years creating fantasies to get noticed in the press,” adding, “Why did actors in other shows I was in not have the same issues? I stupidly allowed them to do it I guess. No more!” Related Remembering Kirstie Alley Going Vulcan for ‘Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan’ George Takei Speaks Out on ‘Star Trek’ Feud with William Shatner: He’s a ‘Cantankerous Old Man’ Related Influential Awards Bodies Reshape 2023 Best Documentary Feature Race Oscars 2023: Best Original Song Predictions
Back in 2015, Takei told The New York Times (via ABC News) that Shatner was “difficult” to work with on set. “It’s difficult working with someone who is not a team player. The rest of the cast all understand what makes a scene work — it’s everybody contributing to it,” Takei said at the time. “But Bill is a wonderful actor, and he knows it, and he likes to have the camera on him all the time.” Shatner previously revealed that he has never seen an episode of “Star Trek,” which originally aired from 1966 to 1969. “It’s all painful because I don’t like the way I look and what I do,” he said. Yet Shatner understands the appeal of the sci-fi series: “The fact that ‘Star Trek’ exists 400 years from now is sort of a promise that if we do those things, we will, your children, your grandchildren will continue to live and live in fairly decent circumstances if you follow what we’re supposed to follow,” he said. “‘Star Trek’ says we exist 400 years from now, so there’s hope. That’s what the audience gets, is the hope. That’s the message of ‘Star Trek,’ and that’s why I think ‘Star Trek’ is popular.”

— William Shatner (@WilliamShatner) November 13, 2022 Sign Up: Stay on top of the latest breaking film and TV news! Sign up for our Email Newsletters here.